US Has More Artists Than Lawyers

Careers

Posted Jun 13, 2008, 07:42 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Ever dreamed of giving up your legal career to become an artist? If you did, you would find yourself in a more popular occupation, at least in terms of numbers (and perhaps in terms of public sentiment).

The National Endowment for the Arts has studied the U.S. census data and concluded that nearly 2 million people earn their living as artists, the Washington Post reports. That compares to 1 million people who work as lawyers.

The NEA numbers include designers, writers, architects, producers, actors, fine artists, musicians, photographers and dancers.

NEA chairman Dana Gioia estimates that the aggregate income of artists is $70 billion.